RENO, Nevada
(GreenBayPhoenix.com) - Playing its opening game of the World Vision Classic in
Reno, Green Bay (2-0) jumped out to an early lead and used a pair of
double-doubles to down Southern Utah (0-2) 66-54 on Friday night. The Phoenix
improved to 2-0 for the first time since the 1995-96 season. Green Bay, whose
game did not end until nearly 1 a.m., will be back in action at 8:05 p.m. CT on
Saturday to play tournament host, Nevada (1-1).

Junior Alec Brown (Winona, Minn.) and senior Brennan Cougill (Sioux City, Iowa) each scored 17 points to lead the Phoenix and
grabbed 13 and 10 rebounds, respectively. Brown, who was limited to just eight
minutes in the first half because of taking an elbow, registered his 12th
career double-double.

In Green Bay's Division I history, there have been
only four occasions with teammates recording double-doubles in the same game.
Three of the four have come in the past three seasons under head coach Brian Wardle.

Getting two early three-pointers from sophomore Keifer Sykes (Chicago, Ill.), Green Bay
raced to a double-digit lead just eight minutes in and led 23-10 at the 9:57
mark. Brown went to the bench just three minutes into the game, but returned with
four minutes left in the half. The 7-foot-1 All-Horizon League player had the
last four points of the half and had nine points, five boards and a pair of blocks
at the break despite logging just eight minutes. Green Bay led 34-24 at
intermission.

Brown scored four of the first six points of the
second half to push the Phoenix lead to 42-28 with 16:40 to play. The
Thunderbirds used an 6-0 spurt to cut the deficit to eight and on five other occasions
cut the Green Bay lead to single digits, but each time the Phoenix responded
with a bucket and finished off the win.

Sykes, who scored 31 points in the opener, added 13
points and four assists while freshman Carrington
Love (Milwaukee, Wis.) gave the Phoenix a fourth double-figure scorer with
a career-high 11 points. Sykes was a perfect 3-of-3 from long range while Love
went 5-of-7 from the field.

Led by Brown and Cougill, Green Bay had a 51-40 edge
on the boards and tallied eight blocks, tied for the fifth most in program
history.

On Saturday, Green Bay faces a Nevada team that won 28
games a season ago and has one of the country's top mid-major players in Deonte
Burton. The Wolfpack got 19 points from Burton on Friday to rally past Cal
State Fullerton 80-77.

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Read a full season preview of the men's basketball team and watch a 1-on-1 interview with Wardle.

Full season ticket and Pick 5 packages are on sale now
with the Green Bay Athletics Ticket Office. For more information and to order
tickets, please call 920.465.2625, visit the athletics department offices in
the Kress Events Center or access GreenBayPhoenix.com/tickets.

For the latest and most up-to-date information
on Green Bay Athletics, please visit GreenBayPhoenix.com.